Method of making a play ball slug



Nov. 29, 1938 G. D. GRAU, JR

METHOD OF MAKING A PLAY BALL SLUG Filed Dec. 10, 1937 ammifi Y A TTORNVEYS.

?atented Nov. 29, 1938 HTED STATE aisaooi common or ammo a may earn sane George 1). Gran, in, he, Tenn, gnor to The liiannom Manufactg Gompany,

Grinnell, Iowa My invention relates to the manufacture of play balls such as, base balls, indoor base balls, soft balls and the like; an object being in my device to provide a novel method of making soft 5 balls, and slugs therefor, such as are commonly used as indoor base balls.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel, practical and economical method of making play ball slugs, the interior construction of go which will be very durable, resilient and-tough, capable of resisting repeated hard blows and the stress and strains commonly incident to the playing of ball games.

A particular purpose of my invention is to provide a method of making soft play ball slugs, wherein I utilize a mixture of rough resilient material, pulverized kapok, a quantity of relatively fine sand and rubber latex, in which mixture I prepare the materials in a manner adapted to completely encompass all particles ofthe tough resilient material, of the pulverized kapol; and the sand as they are agitated in suspension in the latex, which is handled in a consistency that will nake it easy for it to surround each of such particles.

in connection with my novel method,'I prefer to leave the mixture in solution for a suitable period of time to permit the same to condition itself, after which selected measures of the conditioned mixture are formed into spheres serving the purpose of the ball core. After this core is thus formed I provide alternately coats of rubber latex' and windings of absorbent cords, preferably yarn, finishing the slug with a substantial application of latex followed by an application of heat to the finished slug to vulcanize the rubber latex in the slug and to hold all slug materials in place without them slipping under the blows and stresses and strains of play. Thus, with this 4.0 kind of a ball slug made of a mixture of tough resilient materials and sand (for the desired weight), all suspended in rubber latex, I am able to secure a soft ball slug that is decidedly practical, durable and resilient at all times and when provided with a suitable cover, a soft ball which under numerous breakdown tests has been able to successfully resist continued and severe blows under actual ball playing conditions.

I attain the objects of my novel process by the methods described herein, recited in the claims and illustrated in the drawing to facilitate this disclosure.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of one ofthe soft ball slug products of my novel process and shown with a slice out out of the e to illustrate the details of the inner construction of the slug.

Fig. 2 is a enlarged detail of a portion oi a slug showing how larger'pieces of cork may be used if desired, as the resilient material with the pulverized irapolr and sand particles. I

Fig. 3 is a halt section oi one of the completed slugs.

Fig, t illustrates a slug made by method and covered partially with an ordinary leather ball cover.

Referring to the several steps in my method as they occur, i shall point out thesalient features thereof as I explain the advantages to be Y derived from the material used and from the method applied in the preparation thereof.

For instance, I have found it desirable to use cork of varied degrees of coarseness and have found it preierableto use kapok in a pulverized state; while at a certain stage of progress in my method, I find it decidedly advantageous to use a relatively fine grade of sand for controlllng the weight of the slug.

With my novel process, i prefer to place these materials in suspension in fluid rubber or later: of a relatively thin consistency but the operations required for achieving the desired results in this connection are carried out in a novel and scientific manner that has already stood the test of einciency in the results obtained.

For instance, as will be noted in the drawing, the entire product oi this method comprises pieces of cork i or" desired degrees of coarseness, particles of fine and preferably granulated kapolr 2, a fine grade of sand 3 to control the weight, a resilient supporting and binding agent of vulcanized latex 3, windings of cotton or yarn h with coatings of latex t subjected to an application of heat to vulcanize all later: in the spherical core with the vulcanized slug 7 covered by a. preferably leather cover 8.

I shall now point out some features of merit in my method as I relate the scientific advan-.

cal slug and I therefore preferto use a groundcork, the pieces of which are comparatively uniform in size and not excessively large.

It has been found in experimental teststhat where ground cork particles are massed to rub 5 directly against each other under the stresses completely encompassed by a coating of rubber or vulcanized latex preventing it from slipping in the slug. It will be obvious to experienced manufacturers and players that other durable and resilient materials could be here used in 5 place of cork, if desired. Cork is not a good absorbent and may not be-expected to absorb the latex, yet all the advantages of the durable, resilient characteristics of the cork are obtained when each cork particle is completely encompassed by the latex material.

In order to accomplish my purpose, therefore, in this process, I prepare a quantity of ground cork, mixing it with a quantity of finely ground or pulverized kapok, the mixing being done while they are both dry.

I then place the mixture of these two materials into a vat of latex of relatively thin consistency or pour the latex into a container holding the dry mixture and thoroughly stir or otherwise agitate this mixture of the cork, kapok and latex in order to secure a complete and effective distribution of the cork and kapok pieces and particles giving each particle of cork and kapok a chance to be completely encompassed by latex without such particles clinging .together with their respective surfaces in direct contact which would permit them to slide together under the stresses of play.

. After thus agitating most thoroughly this mixture of cork, kapok and latex, to accomplish this purpose I then enter into the mixture a desired quantity of fine sand to control the weight inv ball slugs made by my process. When this sand is added to the mixture, including the sand with the other materials then the mixture is most thoroughly stirred or agitated in order to place the sand particles also into a thoroughly distributed suspension in the latex. With this done, the agitated mixture is left preferably for a number of hours to condition itself; in fact, I

prefer, in the factory operations, to leaves this mixture to condition overnight.

, My next step is to place measured quantities of this conditioned mixture into a mold which is utilized to form the same into spherical cores for the respective ball slugs.

I, next, hand-wind some strands of cotton or yarn about the surface of the core to hold the core spherical until it is machine-wound. Then,

60. I dip the core in latex and apply more windings of cotton cord or yarn or any suitable winding material. I prefer to alternate these winding and dipping operations until a desired but relatively thin integral cover is provided for the slug.

As a last slug preparing operation, I prefer dipping the slug to obtain a final coat of latex, after which I apply heat at sufiicient temperature to vulcanize the latex anywhere in the core and slug with the result that all particles of resilient material, of kapok and sand, in the slug are separated from each other by latex which will not permitthem'to slip together; in addition to the fact that latex will effectively provide an additional resiliency throughout the mass that ber content.)

will always help to hold the slug in permanent durable form under the stresses of play.

After the slug is completed, it is then ready to be covered by any suitable ball cover material. I have thus pointed out certain steps in my novel process as the scientific results, were given therefor and I shall now set forth in detail this novel process as it is being carried out from day to day in our factory:

We make up enough material to manufacture 10 dozen of these balls in what we call a lot. we take 20 pounds of granulated cork 6 to 8 mesh. (This is the descriptive size as used by the cork product manufacturers.) We mix with this 20 pounds of cork in its dry state, two pounds'of pulverized kapok. These two ingredients are then thoroughly mixed. This can either be done in a mixing machine or on a board in the same manner as mixing concrete.

The kapok particles cling to the particles of cork, this mixture being thorough, the kapok being almost invisible in the mixture. We then wet these two ingredients after being thoroughly mixed with 2% gallons of 38% latex. (38% rubdampened with the latex, we then apply to this mixture five pounds of sand (less sand is used for light weight, balls) which is mixed in gradually as the above mixture is stirred. This sand is added for one prime factor and that is to control the weight of the slug and ball. By this process, I can pre-determine the exact weights to which the play ground ball. will be finished and can thus make 6, 6%, 6 6% and 7 ounce ball, thus being able to satisfy the various demands of the trade in various sections of the country for a specified weight ball, which varies in different sections of the country.

After the above mixture is obtained, the container is covered and the mixture allowed to stand overnight. I find from experience that I this casing or mulling of this material is very beneficial to the aforesaid mixture.

The following day this mixture is taken to the power presses and molded into the various sizes and weight balls which we have on order. The molding is obtained on a power press that has male and female dies, which press this mixture into perfect spheres. These spheres come out of this machine in perfect form and are hand wrapped by the pressmen to prevent their swelling before same can be wound on the winding machines.

'I'he slugs, as we may now call the partially processed balls, are then entered into the winding machines and a coat of cotton yarn wound on the same after which they are dipped in latex and brought back to the winding machines, where they are again given an additional coat of cotton yarn. The balls are then re-dipped in latex and are placed in our vulcanizing ovens where they are processed approximately three hours at 250 F. The balls are then coated with a rubber cement and sent to the sewing rooms. The covprs, which we use on this ball, have in the meantime been sprayed on the flesh side (the side which goes against the slug) with latex. These covers are sewed on the balls the ball then going to steam molds, that is, spherical cavities, which are heated with steam by means of a jacket, the

molds thus covering the ball, transmitting this After this mixture is thoroughly being perfect from all angles, the entire ball being v vulcanized into one solid unit.

Having thus described the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. The method of manufacturing a ball slu comprising mixing a quantity of broken cork with a quantity of pulverized kapok while both are dry; adding to the m xture a quantity of rubber latex sufiicient to encompass all pieces of cork in the mixture and all particles of pulverized kapok therein, adding to the wet mixture a sufiicient quantity of relatively fine sand to obtain the desired weight, permitting all sand particles also to become completely encompassed by the rubber latex, thoroughly stirring the mixture of cork, kapok, sand and latex and leaving the same to condition itself a selected period of time,

forming selected measures of the conditioned mixture into spherical cores, hand-winding a selected quantity of yarn about the core to hold the same to size, coating the slug thus wound with latex and machine-winding more yarn thereon, applying the core thus again wound, with a substantial final coat of latex, subjecting the slug thus prepared to an application of heat to vulcanize the latex in the core and hold the pieces of sand, kapok and cork from slipping,

around in the core, and to provide a substantial resiliency in the core mass; said core thus defining a ball slugadapted to be provided with a cover of selected material.

2. The method of manufacturing a ball slug, comprising mixing a quantity of material having resilient characteristics with a quantity of pulverized kapok while both are dry, adding to the mixture a quantity of rubber latex of relatively thin consistency suificient to encompass each particleof the resilient material and each small particle of pulverized kapok, thoroughly agitating this mixture, adding to this wet mixture, selected quantities of relatively fine sand, to obtain the desired weight while the particles of kapok and resilient material are in suspension in the latex, again stirring the mixture thoroughly to obtain a uniform distribution of the sand in the wet mixture'and to place the sand particles in uniform suspension therein, leaving the thoroughly stirred mixture of resilient material, kapok, sand and latex to condition itself for a selected'period of time, forming selected measures of the conditioned mixture into spherical cores, hand-winding a selected quantity of yarn upon said core, to hold the same to size, applying latex and yarn windings alternatiely to obtain a selected binding of yarn windings and latex over the spherical core, finishing said applications witha substantial coat of latex and thus forming a hall slug,

and then applying heat, to vulcanize the latex throughout the slug, thus holding the particles of sand, kapok and resilient material from slipping around in the slug and holding all parts of the slug resiliently together when the slug is covered andsubjected to severe stresses, strains, and blows incident to a ball game. v

3. The method of making a soft ball slug, comprising mixing a selectedquantity of ground cork, with a selected quantity of pulverized kapok and thoroughly stirring the mixture by manual or mechanical means, wetting this mixture with a selected quantity of rubber latex, thoroughly stirring the mixture thus wet, in latex, entering into this mixture a selected quantity of fine sand to meet desired specifications of weight, thoroughly stirring the mixture including the sand, leaving the mixture to condition itself over a predetermined period of time in a covered contaned, placing selected measures of the conditioned'mixture of cork, fine kapok, sand and latex into a die and forming a spherical core thereof, handwrapping this core with enough strands of cotton cord or yarn to prevent swelling of the core at this stage and to hold the same in predetermined size, machine-winding the core with a coat of cotton or woolen yarn, dipping the slug thus formed into latex, again machine-winding the slug with an additional coat of yarn while the latex thus applied is yet wet, re-dipping the slug into latex, placing the slug thus far prepared into a vulcanizing oven where it is processed approximately. three hours at approximately 250 F., to thoroughly vulcanizeall latex in the slug and hold all particles of cork, kapok, and sand in place in the slug, and to add to the slug construction a tough substantial resiliency capable of holding up under the stresses, strains and blows incident to ball playing after a substantial cover is provided therefore.

4. The method of making a soft ball slug, comprising mixing a selected quantity of ground cork with a selected quantity of pulverized kapok and thoroughly stirring the mixture by -manual or mechanical means, wetting this mixture with a selected quantity of rubber latex, thoroughly stirring the mixture thus wet in latex, entering into this mixture a selected quantity of fine sand to meet desired specifications of weight, thoroughly stirring the mixture including the sand, leaving forming a spherical core thereof, hand wrapping this core with enough strands of cotton cord or yarn to prevent swelling of the core at this stage and to hold the same in predetermined size, machine-winding the core with a coat of cotton or woolen yarn, dipping the slug thus formed into latex, again machine-winding the slug with an additional coat of yarn while the latex thus applied is yet wet, re-dipping the slug into latex,

placing the slug thus far prepared into a vulcanizing oven where it is processed approximately to the latex and rubber cement treated yarn on the slug to hold the cover firmly in place on the 7 $1118. GEORGE D. GRAU, JR. 

